Hundreds attend inaugural Kids and Parents Expo in Detroit Lakes

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Kids and parents alike crowded into Lakeshirts Fieldhouse at Detroit Lakes High School on Saturday for inaugural Kids and Parents Expo.

Hundreds of event attendees were treated to games, candy, arts and crafts and other assorted games set up at the various vendor tables.

Cole Helbling, operations director for Essentia Health St. Mary’s in Detroit Lakes, said some of the staff working the expo for the health provider are the same staff these kids see every time they go into the pediatrician’s office.

“We brought a pediatrician, we’ve got pediatric therapy here,” said Helbling. “They see these patients in the clinic and then they get to have a good time with them in the community. A lot of familiar faces and everybody is having a great time.”

He also pointed out a game in the gym that drew large lines of kids throughout the event.

“The Zombie Defense game over there just looks amazing,” he said. “I’m definitely going to try that out in a couple minutes here when I get a chance.”

The Zombie Defense game featured two leaf-blower-like units with a top-loaded rifle attachment that could be hand fed from a bucket of foam balls and fired at zombie cutouts.

Kids also painted and decorated more than 200 mini-pumpkins during the event.

They also mixed their own glue-based colored slime to take home thanks to the staff at Detroit Lakes Public Utilities in another kid-favorite event during the expo.

Stacey Omberg, event organizer for Leighton Broadcasting, said the slime table had consistently the longest lines all day.

“It is a hit-and-a-half,” said Omberg. “That one has been busy from the time that Bridget sat down. I think she thought she was going to sit down, but I don’t think she’s sat down since.”

She also said, overall, she couldn’t have been happier with the inaugural expo. The vendor tables were engaging; the kids were all smiling; and the entire afternoon really seemed like a kid-focused community event, which probably pleased some parents too.

“You gotta start somewhere, so that’s kinda what we did this year,” she said. “We were just kinda getting a feel for what we need to do, and what we need to do to bring people in. They say, ‘if you build it, they will come,’ and I think that happened this year. So, I’m excited and really happy about it.”

To view all of the photos and video from the event, check out our station’s website and Facebook page, or check them out on the Lakes Area Radio app.

Man charged with multiple attempted first-degree counts from police shooting Thursday

A criminal complaint says the Minnesota man accused of shooting five law enforcement officers last Thursday told his wife it was “his day to die” when he learned that drug task force officers were at his home in Glendorado Township.

64-year-old Karl Thomas Holmberg was charged Friday with six counts of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer and six counts of first-degree assault of a peace officer.

Charges stem from an exchange of gunfire Thursday as officers sought to serve a search warrant at his property in rural Princeton.

According to the complaint, after officers entered the home, Holmberg shot them through a closed door with a military-style rifle. 

He asked his wife to join him in fighting police, but she refused. 

She told investigators that Holmberg called her a “coward” and she was not injured during the incident.

The officers sustained injuries that were not life-threatening and Holmberg was shot in the foot.

The shooting led to a nearly four-hour standoff before Holmberg was taken into custody.

A Benton County District Court judge set bail at $6 million without conditions, or $3 million with standard conditions such as a ban on possessing weapons or ammunition, and set his next court date for Oct. 24.

Lakes Area Parrot Heads celebrate 20 years; donate more than $14k to Marshmallow Animal Shelter

Members of the Lakes Area Parrot Heads celebrated their 20-year anniversary on Saturday night at Zorbaz in Detroit Lakes and made a more than $14,000 donation to the Marshmallow Animal Shelter.

The donation will support the shelter’s operations funds and include the proceeds from the group’s MaCaws for Paws and Boats and Bars fundraising events over the summer.

Jim Brogren, member of the Lakes Area Parrot Heads, said 20 years is an important milestone for the group since some of the other Parrot Head clubs in the state have folded over the years.

“When we started it, there had been a club in Grand Forks and a club in Duluth and there was one in Minneapolis, but the Duluth one and the Grand Forks one both had folded,” said Brogren. “So we thought we’d try it and Fargo had tried to start one and they weren’t successful, so we joined forces with the Fargo people and 20 years later, here we are, partying with a purpose.”

He also said “partying with a purpose” is something their group believes in wholeheartedly and raising money for amazing community organizations is something that every social group should be doing because it makes the community better.

“That means we like to have fun, but we like to do good for our community,” he said. “We like to raise funds. And we’re a social club with a charity problem … because that’s what we’re always doing.”

The group’s next event will be held in November and will feature an 11-bar pub crawl to support the Patriot Assistance Dogs program. The event will also feature a 1,000 ticket raffle for prizes with the proceeds going to support the veteran-service animal organization.

Man shot in leg Friday night in Moorhead

A man was shot in the leg in Moorhead on Friday night.

On Oct. 13 at 11:10 p.m., Moorhead Police Department responded to reports of gunshots fired at the 1900 block of 20th Street South.

Upon arrival to the scene, first responders found a 56-year-old man with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg.

The man reported being shot nearby by a male suspect who was no longer on the scene. 

Officers found evidence of the shooting nearby, and a suspect was identified; however, no one has been formally charged in connection with the incident at this time. 

Moorhead police stated the shooting was an isolated incident, and there was no known danger to the public.

The incident remains part of an ongoing investigation.
Story by Ashley Henley / KFGO

Essentia Health St. Mary’s hosting free joint-replacement seminar Thursday evening at The Lodge

Essentia Health St. Mary’s in Detroit Lakes will be hosting a free joint-replacement seminar at The Lodge on Thursday evening that will focus on common joint problems and possible remedies.

The event will feature two of Essentia’s orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Francis Cormier and Dr. Om Sharma who will be making short presentations to the attendees, but also be available for any questions during or after the event.

Dr. Andrew Moen, a podiatrist for Essentia Health, said sometimes people don’t want to have to go through the clinic and want to have health discussions in a different venue first.

“Kind of the concept is to bring the surgeons and the docs out of the clinic and out to the community,” said Dr. Moen. “People can ask questions. Meet the surgeons. Just get a general overview of what arthritis in our knees and our hips mean and then what are some options. And it’s not 100% surgical focused. We’re not trying to sign you up for the OR the next day, but sometimes people like to have medical discussions in different venues.”

He also said, if patients are experiencing chronic joint pain, he wants them to come to the event and ask questions from their surgeons instead of googling their ailment and then being advertised things or procedures they might not need because Essentia Health St. Mary’s can treat much of what they are looking up locally. It would also probably save them money by just coming to ask questions at their free event.

“There’s lots of advertising, just like with anything,” he said. “So various companies advertise and patients think they need to go to Minneapolis and Mayo Clinic and those are all good alternatives, but this is something that can be done safely and done very well in Detroit Lakes.”

Dr. Moen said he hopes the event remains low key with coffee and snacks because sometimes people don’t want to ask for help in the clinic setting and meeting community members informally is a way for their doctors to answer those questions and put that patient’s concerns to rest.

“I want it to be very low key, not a super serious event,” said Dr. Moen. “It’s a ‘no stupid questions; kinda thing. We’re really just trying to get our surgeons out in the community. They are two great guys. The therapy department is great. It’s just a good event for people that have any kind of questions about this area of the medical world.”

The Essentia Health free joint-replacement seminar begins Thursday, Oct. 19 at 6:30 p.m. at The Lodge in Detroit Lakes.

Hepola wins regional Emmy for ‘Rural By Choice’

Perham’s Cory Hepola won an Upper Midwest Regional Emmy on Saturday night from the National Academy of Television Arts and Science for his long-form lifestyle docu-series, “Rural By Choice.”

Hepola starred in and narrated the series about going back to rural Minnesota after trying to escape it initially when he was younger.

Hepola co-produced the series with  Micah and Jenna Kvidt and Erik Osberg, a former member of the Wadena Chamber of Commerce Board.

In a social media post, Hepola said his life was forever changed in 2019 when he received an “out of the blue” phone call from Osberg who pitched the idea for the series that wanted to uplift Otter Tail County and inspire healthy living.

The series makers received the regional Emmy for the second season of the show.

All 11 episodes of the series can be found on the Otter Tail Lakes Country YouTube page.

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